Machines designed for printing document reproductions require a means for scanning an original document. Systems for scanning and reproducing image information employ devices such as charge coupled devices (CCDs). Analog output signals produced by CCDs contain (1) a D.C. offset component that is attributable to the inherent operating characteristics of the CCD and (2) a video component that is attributable to the exposure of the CCD to light.
It is necessary to remove the unwanted D.C. component. One technique for restoring a signal to an absolute value is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,503 which issued on Aug. 5, 1980 to D. G. Wiggins. An average of scanned values from the output of dark cells on the CCD is used to calculate of offset voltage to be subtracted from the CCD output signal, for the subsequent scan.
While the signal restoration technique of the Wiggins patent isolates the dark level signals, the technique is not optimum. The use of the output of dark cells to calculate an offset voltage to be subtracted from the CCD output reduces the dynamic range of operation of the overall systems. Because of characteristics of human perception, of inks, dyes, and toners used in printing, and of CCDs, printed black is not the same as absolute black (the absence of all light. For example, an eight-bit system has 256 discrete gray levels of possible operation. A system that bases offset control solely on the output of dark cells will have a dynamic range of operation of less than 256 gray levels; say 243 gray levels, or 13 levels less than the same system with optimum offset control.